Daphyne Smith Cauble
Community Activist. Born: May 30, 1910, Hamlin, Brown County, Kansas. Died: May 26, 2002, Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas.
Daphyne "Dee" Vivian (Smith) Cauble was born on May 30, 1910, in Hamlin, Brown County, to parents Jesse and Clara Smith. She married Dr. Wilber G. Cauble.
She attended what is now Kansas State University in Manhattan and received a bachelor’s degree in home economics in 1932 and a master’s degree in home economics in 1937. During her time at K-State she kept busy in groups such as Ionian Literary Society, Intersociety Council, YWCA cabinet, and Home Economics Club Council. During her senior year she was secretary of the Mortar Board and president of Kappa Phi. Her graduate thesis was entitled “The Activities of a Selected Group of High School Girls with Reference to Clothing.”
Cauble worked as a home economics teacher for several years and taught in both Kansas and Oklahoma during her teaching career.
She became involved in helping to provide medical and hygiene products to underprivileged areas around the world. With her husband she traveled to Bolivia, the Congo, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, and Guatemala to seek recipients in need of medical supplies.
In addition to her help with medical auxiliaries and the outreach programs she was also active in organizations such as the Sedgwick County branch of American Medical Association Auxiliary’s Committee on International Health. For many years she served as the state’s international health chair. She and her husband founded Project Concern in Wichita and started the Walk for Mankind.
She was named the 1979 Kansan of the Year by Native Sons and Daughters, received the Service to Mankind Award, and with her husband the First Citizen’s Award for outstanding service in 1987. In 1990 she was the recipient of the Alumni Medallion Award from Kansas State University.
She died May 26, 2002, in Wichita, Sedgwick County.
Entry: Cauble, Daphyne Smith
Author: Kansas Historical Society
Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.
Date Created: July 2016
Date Modified: May 2018
The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.
